Take Me The Way I Am
by kamywho
Summary: A collection of Rane one-shots based off of the song "Take Me The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson.
1. If You Were Falling

**AN: Just a little something I thought of while being bored without internet. Enjoy! :) I'm not that happy with this one, but I had fun writing it. **

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><p><em>If you were falling, then I would catch you. <em>

There was one thing that never changed about Shane and Reed; Shane would always catch him. Unless they weren't in the same room, but otherwise, Shane would somehow always be fast enough to catch the painter before he hit the floor.

It was senior year, and Parents' Night was just a few days away. This meant that Reed and Kurt's room was a no-man zone during the day. Everyone in Windsor House knew that Reed couldn't afford any distractions while he was busy painting. Everyone, except Shane; he assumed that he got a "Free Pass" because he was Reed's boyfriend.

That being said, the dancer merrily pranced into his boyfriend's padded room and flopped on the bed. "Hello, love!" he said cheerily.

Reed didn't stop painting. "I'm busy, Shane."

"But you've been painting all _day," _Shane countered.

"Shane just let me paint and we'll talk later," Reed said, eyes still glued to the canvas in front of him.

The younger Anderson sighed. "Fine. Just take a break, please? You've been like this for four days already. This isn't healthy."

"Shane," Reed warned, sounding annoyed.

"Reed?" Shane answered, not giving up.

The small painter huffed in frustration, turned around, and was about to lightly smack Shane with his paintbrush.

Until he tripped over the rug.

Quickly, Shane dived down from the bed and grabbed Reed by the waist before he fell to the floor. Reed forgot that he was supposed to be angry with the dancer, and erupted into a fit of giggles.

"I _told_ you, you need to take a break," Shane smiled.

"Shut up," Reed said as he playfully punched Shane's chest.

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><p>"Shane?" Reed called out into their apartment as he closed the door behind him. "Shane? Anyone home?" he called out again when there wasn't any response. The lights and everything were on, but where was Shane? Then, he heard it. He heard the sound of the shower running in the bathroom through the open bedroom door.<p>

He entered their room, and then knocked on the bathroom door. "Shane?"

"In the shower!" the dancer answered back over the sound of water hitting tile.

Reed laughed, leaning against the door. "I figured that much out myself, believe it or not."

He could practically hear the smile in Shane's voice. "Just give me a minute, I'll be out soon."

A couple minutes later, the sound of the running water stopped and Reed could hear Shane pulling his towel off the rack. Finally, Shane stepped out of the bathroom wearing an old dance t-shirt and sweat pants. However, he was unaware that Reed had been leaning against the door causing the painter to stumble over with a squeak. Fortunately, Shane caught him without missing a beat.

"Hey there," Shane grinned as he helped Reed regain his balance. "You alright?"

Reed's cheeks were still pink. No matter how long he and Shane had been dating, just a simple touch would cause little sparks to go through the boy's body. He just nodded, "Mhm."

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><p>As the couple aged, Reed had gotten ill and had been admitted in a hospital.<p>

At some point, they both knew that their days together were numbered. Neither of them wanted to talk about it; mostly because Shane refused to "give up" on the whole situation. Over lunch one afternoon, Reed finally brought it up.

"I don't want to talk about this," Shane said, looking down.

"It's not a matter of wanting to talk about it, Shane," Reed answered.

"I don't want to act like we're giv– "

"We're not giving up," Reed cut his husband off. "Just listen, okay?"

Shane nodded.

Reed smiled faintly, taking Shane's hand in his and swirling patterns on his palm. "Remember that Winterfest way back when in Dalton?" he started. "And then that party the Twins had in New York with the countdown?" Shane nodded again. "I remember you held me to make sure I wasn't knocked over or grabbed by the crowd. You caught me just before you boarded the plane the next day. And you've caught me loads of times since then.

"And what I'm trying to say, I guess, is that you don't have to worry as much anymore. No matter what happens, we'll be just fine."

"How can we be just fine if you're–" Shane whispered, but again got cut off.

"We'll be fine. You'll be fine. Whatever. We'll. Be. Fine." He leaned over from the hospital bed to rest their foreheads together. While doing this, he knocked over the fork from his tray.

Shane had caught said fork.

_And you take me the way I am. _


	2. You Need A Light

_You need a light; I'd find a match. _

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><p>It was Kurt's birthday, and as usual, the Twins were getting down to business setting everything into party-mode.<p>

Reed wanted to do something special for his best friend. Even though he had already gotten him that Alexander McQueen jacket he'd been admiring in a magazine for a while, Reed wanted to make something to add to his present. After trying to convince the entire house to let him use the kitchen, he still was banned. Charlie had even posted up a sign on the kitchen island: **Reed Van Kamp Is Not Allowed Beyond This Point. **To which several scribbled Sorry Reeds had been added around the sign.

While he was allowed to use the kitchen with help, Reed said he wanted to do this by himself. Defeated, he had gotten a cupcake from the bakery instead. The only thing he needed now was a match to light the candle.

Normally, he'd ask Blaine for these kinds of things. Except, the White Rabbit was currently off-campus making sure the Alice would be properly surprised when they returned.

For a moment he thought of asking Dwight. Until figured that the White Knight would have some sort of panic attack and think that Reed would be exorcising something.

He concluded that the easiest way to get a match or a lighter was to just yell into the hallway.

"Does anyone have a match? I need to light a candle!" he heard some sort of commotion from the common room.

Said commotion was coming from Shane Anderson.

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><p>"Let me give it!" he pleaded.<p>

"Why? So he can give you a token of his gratitude?" Wes scoffed.

"From his lips, in particular?" David added, earning a high-five from Wes.

The younger Anderson tried to ignore them, but blushed a deep red.

"Let the Little Bat give the match," Evan said nonchalant.

"He might get something out of it," Ethan nodded.

"You know, instead of stalking him from across the hall," Evan snickered.

"I do not stalk him!" Shane argued.

"Sure you don't," the four boys said at the same time while rolling their eyes.

At that moment, Charlie had passed through the common room. He sighed in frustration. "Just give him the damn match box, guys."

Shane happily snatched the box from the twins and dashed up the stairs to run to Reed's room. The door was open, so he knocked on the doorframe.

"_Need a light?"_ he sang to the tune of Light My Candle, aware that those were not the correct lyrics.

Reed turned around and smiled at Shane, who was entering the room. "You're such a dork," he blushed as he took the matchbox from the dancer.

He moved to the desk where the cupcake was, and attempted to strike the match. Only for it to snap in half, giving Reed a splinter. Shane frowned.

"Need help?" he asked.

Reed nodded and passed the box to Shane, who pulled out another match and struck it easily against the box and lit the candle. Once he was done, he held the match up to Reed motioning for him to blow it out.

The painter giggled and quickly blew out the flame.

"Thanks," he shuffled his feet on the carpet after Shane pulled out the splinter. The two were now positioned on the edge of Reed's bed.

"Anytime," he shrugged, absent-mindlessly kissing the back of Reed's hand. Realizing what he'd just done, he blushed. "Sorry. That was over-doing it. Sorry," he said, as he was about to get up.

"It's fine," Reed assured him, biting back a smile.

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><p><em>And you take me the way I am. <em>


	3. The Way You Say Good Morning

_I love the way you say "Good Morning." _

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><p>Shane could forget many things. However, the one thing he never forgot was to greet Reed a good morning. No matter where he was, no matter what the time difference was, or if they were in bed together or several miles apart.<p>

**[7:48 AM] Shane: Good morning, love! I miss you. **

It was nearing 9 o'clock in the morning when Reed woke up and read Shane's text. Reading it somehow brought him out of his sleepy state. Shane was currently in Seattle, along with the rest of the dance company he was apart of, at some convention for the week.

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><p><strong>Have a wonderful morning and I hope you slept in, because some of us were cursed with the burden of having to wake up at 5 AM to catch a flight on a Sunday. See you in a couple weeks. Love, S. <strong>

Shane had to wake up extra early that morning to catch a flight with Blaine to visit their parents in California for spring break. The previous night, the Reed had stayed up with Shane to 'finish last minute packing'. Which really, meant that Shane hadn't even started packing yet.

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><p>Reed felt a tickle on his nose. Fluttering his eyes open, he noticed that part of his vision was blocked by something yellow. Reaching his hand to touch his face, he found that Shane had stuck a post-it on his nose. It read: <strong>Your side table is kinda messy. So I figured you'd have a better chance finding this here. Good morning! –S. <strong>

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><p>Shane winced when he heard the rustle of the duvet when Reed stirred. Reed turned over to face Shane, who was just getting out of the bathroom and changed into civilian clothing.<p>

"Where y'going?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Shane turned off the light in the bathroom, noticing the sky turning a faint blue through the curtains. He leaned his front on his side of the bed, propping himself up on his forearms.

"I'm just dropping off Blaine and Kurt at the airport, remember?" he whispered. "It's still really early. I'll be back before you wake up, 'kay?"

The blonde boy nodded and moved further down into the duvet. "Mmkay."

A few hours later, Reed awoke and felt arms around him; Shane's arms, in particular. He turned over to face him, and snuggled his face in Shane's chest.

"Hmm?" Shane hummed with his eyes still closed.

"G'morning," Reed said, but it came out slightly muffled.

Shane only pulled Reed closer and smiled. "Good morning."

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><p><em>And you take me the way I am. <em>


	4. If You Are Chilly

_If you are chilly, here take my sweater. _

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><p>Reed and Shane decided it would be nice to take a moonlight walk. Mainly, because everyone in Windsor was in the common room watching some scary movie and neither of them wanted to join. As the opening credits started, Reed nudged Shane. The dancer looked over and immediately saw that Reed, biting his lip with nervous eyes, did not want to watch anything scary that night. He stood up, thankfully they were at the very back, and pulled Reed up as well.<p>

Shane was already wearing a V-neck sweater, so he offered to wait for Reed to grab a jacket or something because it was windy outside.

"No, I'll be fine. Really," he smiled and took the younger Anderson's hand. Shane just shrugged and they made their way to walk around Dalton Academy.

Reed asked Shane how his dance rehearsal was, to which Shane excitedly described everything with hand gestures and several facial expressions. He almost missed the feeling of Reed's arm shivering from their joined hands.

"Chilly?" Shane asked, swinging their hands.

"No," Reed shook his head.

"Really?" Shane asked again, unconvinced because Reed shivered again as the wind blew.

"Maybe a little," Reed said softly as he shifted his weight on the balls of his feet. Shane thought he would fall over, but he didn't.

"Here," Shane's muffled voice could be heard as he pulled off his sweater and offered it to the painter. "I'll be fine," he explained when Reed shook his head. "Good circulation, and stuff."

"Okay; thanks," Reed replied shyly and took the sweater in his hands. Once he pulled it on, he found that the sleeves and hemline were several inches too long. "It's a little…large on me."

"It's cute," Shane shrugged and took his hand again. "I think so, at least. You look like Christmas."

"I beg your pardon?" Reed asked, surprised that Shane would compare him to Christmas. What did Christmas even look like, anyways?

"What? Oh," Shane blushed. "Just because the sweater's green. And your hair is," he motioned to Reed's curls. "Sort of reddish. I don't know."

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><p>"He said I looked like Christmas," Reed blushed when he told the Twins how the walk went the next morning; the three of them were the only ones awake in Windsor.<p>

The twins just smiled knowingly, their ice-blue eyes twinkling.

"Good morning, Little Bat!" They both exclaimed as they burst through Shane's room.

Shane was still sleeping; his voice was muffled under the duvet. "What do you guys want?"

"We were just wondering–" Ethan started.

"Because you seem to be an authority on this–" Evan smirked.

"At least, that was the impression we got from your Dormouse–"

"Guys. I can't deal with your crazy this early," Shane mumbled. "Get to the point."

"Well, if you say so–" Evan drawled.

"We were just wondering if you think we look like Christmas."

Shane looked up and saw Ethan–or was it Evan? – Wearing red pants and a green sweater while Evan wearing green pants and a red sweater.

Shane groaned and threw his extra pillow at the Twins, who only snickered in response.

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><p><em>And you take me the way I am. <em>


	5. Your Head Is Aching

_Your head is aching, I'll make it better._

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><p>"Shane?" Reed said softly as he entered the bedroom, only to find Shane was still curled far into the duvet. He sat on the edge of their bed, and shook Shane's form gently. "Shane, it's almost eleven o'clock."<p>

"Mmph," Shane groaned and rolled under the duvet away from Reed.

"I know, I understand you've been dancing long hours everyday for the past week. But seriously, most people I know start their days much earlier. Besides, we have lunch with Clark because he's here for the week," Shane still didn't move. "He's only here for two weeks, Shane."

When Shane buried himself even deeper, if possible, into the bed Reed grew worried. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Notreally," Shane mumbled.

Reed frowned and slowly lifted up the covers. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts," Shane croaked.

"What does?" Reed pushed some curls away from Shane's forehead as the dancer turned over to face him.

"Everything. My muscles are sore. And I have a head ache," he pouted.

"From dancing?"

Shane nodded. "Maybe, I don't know."

"You weren't required to go to rehearsal everyday. I told you not to," Reed tsked.

"I know," Shane said.

Reed didn't like seeing Shane like this. He was normally bouncing off the walls with energy and enthusiasm. He kissed Shane's forehead and hopped off the bed. "Tell you what, I'll call Clark and reschedule."

"Don't. He has a two-week break and he decided to fly out to New York to see you," Shane said, trying to sit up.

"He'll be fine. He has plenty of friends out here; I'm sure he'll find something else to do today. He'll understand," Reed waved his hand and took the phone out of its cradle to dial his step-brother's cellphone number.

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><p>"Yeah, hello Clark?" he returned back to the bed, letting Shane rest his head on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, but we're going to take a rain check for today. Shane doesn't feel too well…Yeah, exactly…. I told him not to go every day," Reed laughed. "All right…. Great…see you later…Bye." He hung up and placed the phone on the side table. "What did I tell you? Today is going to be about getting you better. Starting with a shower," Reed proclaimed as he pushed the duvet off of Shane.<p>

"A shower, eh?" Shane smiled.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Anderson. I'm serious. Go. Shower," he laughed pushing Shane gently off his shoulder.

After showering, Shane crawled back into bed. Minutes later, Reed came into the room balancing a bowl of soup on a tray and placed it on the bed for Shane.

"You made soup?" Shane pecked Reed on the lips.

"No, I actually ran down to Prêt A Manger and got some. And mind you, I nearly tripped on the sidewalk so you better finish it," Reed smiled.

"Love you," Shane smiled weakly. "Really, I do. If I'm ever rude to you again–"

"Stop quoting Harry Potter and drink it," Reed laughed some more.

Shane happily drank the soup, offering some to Reed every now and then to which he said, "No thanks, besides it'll make you feel better." Once Shane was finished, Reed took the tray carefully and placed it in the kitchen; he returned with some Advil and a glass of water. Shane smiled in thanks and took two pills while reading the bottle when he should take another dosage.

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><p>Two hours later, Shane woke up from his nap. He didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep. He was glad to find that Reed was still in bed with him; just having Reed near him helped Shane feel loads better.<p>

Feeling the absence of Shane's weight, Reed stirred and woke up. "Hey," he smiled as he pushed himself to sit up. "How're you feeling?"

Shane slid down to rest his head in Reed's lap. "Better, thanks. But I'd rather stay like this. You're comfier than standing up."

Reed grinned, running a hand through Shane's hair. "Shane, I seriously doubt that anyone thinks that standing up is comf–"

"Exactly," Shane said as he closed his eyes again. "I meant to say that you're comfy and warm and snuggly. I can't think of any comparisons right now. I'm too weak, you see."

Reed scoffed, "Earlier you said in your sleep, and I quote, 'Sleeping is for pirates. And everyone knows pirates suck.'"

"Well, it's true. Pirates do suck, it's ninjas that run the world."

Reed raised his eyebrows. "Really, now?"

"Shh, just come." Shane whispered, curling more into Reed.

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><p><em>And you take me the way I am. <em>


	6. I Love The Way You Call Me 'Baby'

**A/N: Sorry for not posting anything for a while. I've been sort of busy lately and I had writer's block for a while. So without further ado...**

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><p><em>I love the way you call me <em>baby.

_Pet names, _Reed thought as his History teacher drawled on. _That's something Shane and I don't have. Well, Shane calls me _love_ sometimes but I only call him by his name. _He blushed at the thought, but it sort of bothered him at the same time how he never had a special name for his boyfriend.

Class had just let out, so Reed picked up his binders and books and made his way into the halls. He would normally meet Shane somewhere to walk back to Windsor together, but today the curly haired dancer had a spare last block.

After finally arriving at Windsor, Reed spotted Shane sitting in the common room balancing a book and handout in his lap and highlighter in hand. Hearing the sound of the double doors closing, Shane glanced up and smiled at Reed.

"Hey there," he greeted and motioned for the artist to sit with him.

Reed plumped down on the couch beside Shane and examined the handout. "What'cha got there?" he asked, resting his cheek on against Shane's arm.

"Just English stuff, vocab' and whatnot," he shrugged and lazily highlighted an important metaphor. "Very boring, as you can tell," he chuckled.

Reed hummed in acknowledgement. "Tell you what," Reed tapped Shane's knee. "You finish up while I make us some hot chocolate."

Shane looked over at Reed and grinned. "You're a saint," he leaned closer and tapped Reed's nose with the back of the highlighter. "Do you not want any help though? I know you and the kitchen don't go well together," he said; half teasing, half serious.

"I'll be fine, Shane," Reed laughed and leaped off the couch and almost tripped on the rug.

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><p>A few minutes later, Reed had managed to heat up the water without incident and placed two mugs on the counter. All he needed now was the cocoa. The only problem was that it was on the very top shelf. He sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to reach it. <em>If only it was on the middle shelf. Why put it on the highest shelf if everyone likes hot chocolate? <em>He mentally ranted.

After going on his hip-toes and trying in vain to reach the jar, he gave up. "Hey, babe?" he absent mindedly called out for Shane.

_Babe?_ Shane thought to himself as he closed his book with a smile. _That's definitely_ _new. _He skipped into the kitchen and immediately noticed Reed's hand was an inch away from the cocoa jar. Without a word, he walked up behind the boy and grabbed the jar off the shelf with ease.

Reed blushed and let out small thanks and began to spoon some of the powder into the mugs.

"So," Shane started, nonchalant. "'Babe', huh?" he teased.

Reed pretended not to listen, and stole a quick glance at Shane, who was still looking at him with a smirk.

"Shut up, Anderson," Reed said with feigned annoyance and playfully shoved Shane's shoulder.

The dancer only laughed in response. "Whatever you say, love. But, for the record, _babe_ is nice as well."

_And you take me the way I am._


End file.
